Notes: FSU “turned” 100 on Saturday

By BRAD MILNER / News Herald Writer

Published: Sunday, September 23, 2012 at 07:41 PM.

-- Injured FSU defensive end Brandon Jenkins was on the sidelines wearing his No. 4 jersey. The senior broke his foot in the season opener against Murray State. His left foot was in a protective boot and he rested it on a moveable cart.

-- ESPN’s College GameDay show emanated from Tallahassee for the eighth time, which leads the ACC. FSU also played in its 25th game with GameDay on the campus of a Seminoles’ game. Clemson was competing in only its fourth game involving a GameDay site.

-- Quarterbacks EJ Manuel of FSU and Clemson’s Tajh Boyd are from Virginia. Manuel is from Virginia Beach and Boyd is a Hampton native. They are two of six ACC quarterbacks from Virginia.

-- Menelik Watson returned to the starting lineup at right tackle for the Seminoles. Daniel Glauser started in his Watson’s place last week while he recovered from an ankle injury.

-- Boyd threw a 60-yard scoring pass to DeAndre Hopkins on the Tigers’ first drive of the game. It was the first touchdown scored against FSU’s defense in 13 quarters this season.

-- FSU outgained Clemson 193-168 in the first quarter. The Seminoles had more balance with 114 yards rushing and 79 passing. The Tigers passed for 138 and rushed for 30.

-- The Seminoles called their three first-half timeouts by the 14:35 mark in the second quarter. They lost one for a failed challenge in the first quarter.

The fourth-ranked Seminoles played against their 100th Top 10 opponent with No. 10 Clemson coming to Tallahassee for a primetime showdown. FSU entered Saturday 42-54-3 against opponents ranked 10th or higher.

This was the fourth time FSU faced Clemson with the Tigers possessing such a ranking. The Seminoles won the 1988 contest against the then-No. 3 Tigers 24-21. The teams also met with identical rankings in 2000, as FSU rolled 54-7, and Clemson won a 1989 matchup 34-23.

FSU had won seven straight games at home against Top 10 teams and was 9-2 all time against the ACC’s best. FSU was 21-20-1 since 1992 against top-10 teams.

-- Last week’s 52-0 win over Wake Forest gave FSU its first 3-0 start since 2005. FSU sought a 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference start on Saturday for the 13th time in 21 years in the league.

-- FSU has played 10 true freshmen this season, putting the Seminoles in a tie for 13th in the nation. LSU, Ohio State and TCU were tied for the national lead with 15 entering this weekend’s games.

-- Clemson has seven players from Florida, most notably Sammy Watkins, who was a freshman All-American and is a Fort Myers native. FSU defensive tackle Everett Dawkins is from South Carolina. Former Seminoles’ standouts Peter Boulware, Greg Jones, Lawrence Timmons and Dekoda Watson also hailed from South Carolina.

-- Injured FSU defensive end Brandon Jenkins was on the sidelines wearing his No. 4 jersey. The senior broke his foot in the season opener against Murray State. His left foot was in a protective boot and he rested it on a moveable cart.

-- ESPN’s College GameDay show emanated from Tallahassee for the eighth time, which leads the ACC. FSU also played in its 25th game with GameDay on the campus of a Seminoles’ game. Clemson was competing in only its fourth game involving a GameDay site.

-- Quarterbacks EJ Manuel of FSU and Clemson’s Tajh Boyd are from Virginia. Manuel is from Virginia Beach and Boyd is a Hampton native. They are two of six ACC quarterbacks from Virginia.

-- Menelik Watson returned to the starting lineup at right tackle for the Seminoles. Daniel Glauser started in his Watson’s place last week while he recovered from an ankle injury.

-- Boyd threw a 60-yard scoring pass to DeAndre Hopkins on the Tigers’ first drive of the game. It was the first touchdown scored against FSU’s defense in 13 quarters this season.

-- FSU outgained Clemson 193-168 in the first quarter. The Seminoles had more balance with 114 yards rushing and 79 passing. The Tigers passed for 138 and rushed for 30.

-- The Seminoles called their three first-half timeouts by the 14:35 mark in the second quarter. They lost one for a failed challenge in the first quarter.

-- Lamarcus Joyner was aggressive with kickoff returns for FSU. He averaged 21 yards on two returns in the first quarter and moved the Seminoles to the 32 with a 30-yard return following Clemson’s third score.

-- Sammy Watkins of Clemson was held to 8 yards on one kickoff return in the first quarter and limited to 22 yards for the first half.

-- Clemson led 21-14 at halftime. FSU’s Dustin Hopkins missed two field goals. The Seminoles had 311 total yards and the Tigers 253 in the first 30 minutes.

-- FSU’s Rodney Smith increased his streak of games with at least one reception to 29. He grabbed a 19-yard pass to open the Seminoles’ first drive.

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